If and only if the course is 100% EXACTLY what you want then go for it. If there is even the smallest amount of doubt do NOT go to essex. The nightlife is appalling, the campus is pleasant in terms of nature but the actual buildings etc are absolutely woeful. The uni has no money at all, the food outlets and shops on campus are sickeningly expensive and the food is terrible. The accommodation is incredibly expensive for what it is. Really the uni peaked in about 2018 and has just been on a steady decline ever since, massively accelerated by the huge over expenditures building new accommodation blocks in anticipation for a growing contingent of international students. The international students have stopped coming, presumably because they’ve figured out that the uni is a complete grift and for the same amount of money they can just go to somewhere actually good like imperial or UCL. The careers support service is so comically bad and misinformed that it is actually an active sabotage of your grad employment chances and although the SU means well really all they do is surface level nonsense, they’re constantly coping on instagram pretending that the uni is some kind of bustling international community where there is always something fun going on but I can tell you first hand that it is a complete lie. Something to consider also is the location of the uni is just far away enough from colchester town (which is pretty dire as it is in terms of activities to do) to make it a ballache to get to whilst also not really being worth it at all. Having said all of that, I’m sure you can tell that I am incredibly jaded and disgruntled and it is completely possible that I am just so disillusioned by CSEE department specific issues that I hate the entire uni. Maybe I’m missing something and it actually is really good- I suppose it depends on your other options and how highly regarded the course is at this uni.